Québec Signage Issue – Appeal Dismissed From The Bench

In connection with the decision of Magasins Best Buy Ltée, Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. et al v. Québec (Procureur général), 2014 QCCS 1427 described in the post entitled " Doing Business in Quebec: Does the Charter of the French Language Prevent the Use of Trade-Marks in Languages other than French in Signs, Posters and Advertising?" posted in April 2014, the Québec Court of Appeal recently concluded that the Charter of the French language (the "Charter") does not allow the Office québécois de la langue française ("OQLF") to require retailers to add a French descriptor to their English trade-marks.

The decision dismissed the Government of Québec's appeal of a judgement rendered by the Québec Superior Court in April 2014, whereby the Québec Superior Court ruled that there was no obligation for retailers under the Charter to add generic French terms to registered trade-marks which are exclusively in another language, when a French version of the trade-mark has not